On August 24, the forum of of China Maritime Day on “the spiritual connotation and contemporary value of the nautical spirit” was held in Beijing. He Jianzhong, President of CIN, presided over the forum and emphasized that CIN would promote the systematic designing of the construction and development of sailing culture at a higher level and build consensus of the whole society to strengthen the construction of nautical culture. Huang Zhendong, former leader of the Ministry of Transport, Weng Mengyong, President of the China Highway and Transportation Society, and Xu Zuyuan, IMO Goodwill Ambassador for Maritime Affairs, attended the forum and delivered keynote speeches. Sun Jie, Vice Mayor of Kunming Municipal Government, Zhou Jingbo, Vice President of China Communications Construction Company Ltd. and Chairman of CCCC Dredging (Group) Co., Ltd. and Mo Jianhui, President of CCS, delivered speeches. Zhang Baochen, Executive Vice President of CIN and other five guests gave keynote speeches.
The forum was guided by MOT, CAST and Yunnan Provincial Government, and hosted by CIN, Kunming Municipal Government, China Waterborne Transport Research Institute and China Communications Construction Company Ltd.. CCS, Administrative Committee of China Maritime Think Tank, China Maritime Museum, China Communications Newspaper Co. Ltd., Jinning Area of Government of Kunming City and China Academy of Transport Sciences organized the forum. The forum took a combination of online and offline forms with the main session at the CCS headquarters in Beijing and five parallel sessions at the Department of Transport of Yunnan Province, Changjiang River Administration of Navigational Affairs, Dalian Maritime University and the Shanghai and Jiangsu branch of CCS respectively.
Huang Zhendong introduced the historical achievements of the development of water transport throughout the founding of new China and elaborated on the cultural spirit combined with The History of Water Transportation in China and The Fact Book of China Water Transportation Engineering Construction (1978-2015). He said that successive leading Party member’s groups and leaders of MOT have attached great importance to the construction of transportation culture during more than 70 years since the founding of new China, especially the latest 40 years since the reform and opening up. The study of maritime spirit in the new era should keep pace with the construction of a powerful country in shipping and transportation. Besides considering different needs of the people in different historical periods and reflecting its characteristics, we also should pay much attention to the essential requirements in its spiritual genealogy, reflecting its foundation and including the achievements of the predecessors and enlightenment for the future generations.
Weng Mengyong took the Yangtze River Estuary deep water channel improvement project as an example to explain his understanding of “maritime culture” and “maritime spirit”. He said, firstly, it is indomitable and courageous pioneering, which is also the base of maritime culture and spirit. Secondly, it is intolerant and hard-working. Thirdly, it is the struggling spirit when facing challenges and getting more and more courageous in front of setbacks. Fourthly, it is innovative to scale new heights and to dare to be the first. Fifthly, it is dedicated not to pursue fame or fortune but to bury himself in hard work. Since the reform and opening up, while there have been various cultural and spiritual factors that inspire the development of China’s water transportation engineering technology, it is maritime spirit that runs through it.
Xu Zuyuan elaborated on the significance and contemporary value of China Maritime Day. He said that it has highlighted the will and determination of the Chinese people to inherit the “blue civilization”, cultivated the patriotism spirit of the public, raised the maritime awareness of all people and established a good image of China’s traditionally peaceful diplomacy, which were beneficial to fulfill international obligations and effectively respond to various challenges in the development of the maritime industry. The value of China Maritime Day should put much emphasis on the innovation of maritime science and technology to serve the construction of a strong country, on the shortcomings of maritime culture to realize the coordinated development of land and sea culture, on the shortage of seafarers’ resources to ensure the stability of the team, on maritime safety to ensure smooth maritime transportation, on peaceful development to serve the implementation of The Belt and Road Initiative and on the training of versatile talents to advance the construction of a strong shipping country.
Experts and scholars from CIN, Department of Transport of Yunnan Province, Dalian Maritime University, Shanghai Maritime University, Wuhan University of Technology shared their brilliant views on topics of the historical heritage and development of shipping safety culture, the value of shipping culture from the shipping logistics chain, the promotion of Zheng He’s maritime spirit, the ideas and ways of maritime spirit study in the new era and the immortal Chinese maritime spirit.
